writing a recovery book: any ideas??

[talia]

hi fishies,

i'm currently working on the (hopefully) final draft of my anorexia recovery book ready to submit to publishers and i'm looking for suggestions of things to avoid. There seem to be so many books which are crammed full of numbers and weights (and a bunch of other triggering stuff) and that's NOT what i'm about. i want this book to be positive and encouraging and to say to people "you CAN get better - don't give up" and "EDs are NOT about the food or the weight or the numbers"...

So, what are the most annoying / irritating / triggering / cringey things about ed books, and what do i need to avoid doing? i really REALLY want this book to be helpful to other people in recovery and would very much appreciate your opinions.

Also, if there are any fishies who know about publishing, what sorts of things should i do / not do to be taken seriously by agents / publishers?

Thank you in advance.

[Kensington]

Advice on publishing:

:bullet Avoid self-publishing if you can. These companies are notorious for taking your money to print the book & then it's up to you to promote it, which will cost even more money.

:bullet Get a copy of "Writer's Market" for the current year (available through amazon & a lot of bookstores) & go through it with a highlighter. It lists thousands of publishers & agents & the details you'll need to know, such as their address, what type of work they want, how to send it (outline, sample chapter, entire manuscript), when to expect a reply & how much they pay.

:bullet Be prepared to be patient. Writing the book is hard enough, but then getting it published is a whole nuther job. Give yourself time to work on getting an agent or a publisher & don't worry if it takes a lot of time. That's the normal process.

Good luck!